The Emishi ( 蝦夷 ) , also called Ebisu and Ezo , were a people who lived in parts of northern Honshū in present-day Japan, especially in the Tōhoku region .
78-482: The Kogarasu Maru (小烏丸), or " Little Crow Circle " , is a unique Japanese tachi sword believed to have been created by legendary Japanese smith Amakuni during the 8th century AD. Kissaki Moroha Zukuri (鋒両刃造) blades like the Kogarasu Maru are sometimes referred to as Kogarasu Zukuri (小烏造), since the blade of the Kogarasu Maru is shaped this way and is well known for its distinctive sugata . The Kogarasu Maru
156-408: A wakizashi were called kodachi . The longest tachi (considered a 15th-century ōdachi ) in existence is 3.7 metres (12 ft) in total length with a 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) blade, but is believed to be ceremonial. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, many tachi blades were modified into katana , their cut tangs ( o-suriage ) removing the smiths' signatures from
234-485: A tachi is wrapped in leather or ray skin, and it is wrapped with black thread or leather cord, and the scabbard is coated with black lacquer. On the other hand, court nobles wore tachi decorated with precisely carved metal and jewels for ceremonial purposes. High-ranking court nobles wore swords of the style called kazari tachi or kaza tachi ( 飾太刀, 飾剣 ), which meant decorative tachi , and lower-ranking court nobles wore simplified kazatachi swords of
312-628: A tachi wrapped in leather, was popular. The kawatsutsumi tachi was stronger than the kurourushi tachi because its hilt was wrapped in leather or ray skin, lacquer was painted on top of it, leather straps and cords were wrapped around it, and the scabbard and sometimes the tsuba (hand guard) were also wrapped in leather. By the 15th century, Japanese swords, including tachi , had already gained international fame by being exported to China and Korea. For example, Koreans learned how to make Japanese swords by sending swordsmiths to Japan and inviting Japanese swordsmiths to Korea. According to
390-589: A General of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Meiji era, created the first Gunto, famously known as Murata-To which is a Kissaki Moroha Zukuri style double edged Katana. Though rare, Kissaki Moroha Zukuri style Katanas have also been featured in Japanese novels, manga and anime. This article relating to swords is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Japanese history–related article
468-479: A change in the designs of Japanese swords. The swordsmiths of the Sōshū school represented by Masamune studied ruined tachi – broken or bent in battle – to develop new production methods, and create innovative swords. They forged the blade using a combination of soft and hard steel to optimize the temperature and timing of the heating and cooling of the blade, resulting in a lighter and very robust blade. They also made
546-598: A divergent Japonic language , similar to the historical Izumo dialect . The first mention of the Emishi is from a Chinese source, the Book of Song in 478 CE, which referred to them as "hairy people" ( 毛人 ). The book refers to "the 55 kingdoms ( 国 ) of the hairy people ( 毛人 ) of the East" as a report by King Bu — one of the Five kings of Wa . The first recorded use of the Japanese word Emishi
624-464: A greater taper from hilt to point, was more curved and had a smaller point area for penetrating heavy clothing. Unlike the traditional manner of wearing the katana , the tachi was worn hung from the belt with the cutting edge down, and was most effective used by cavalry . Deviations from the average length of tachi have the prefixes ko- for "short" and ō- for "great, large" attached. For instance, tachi shōtō and closer in size to
702-632: A huge army of over 20,000 men was sent to attack the Shiwa Emishi , an effort that failed, before the Shiwa Emishi launched a successful counterattack in the Ōu Mountains . In 780, the Emishi attacked the Sendai plain, torching Japanese villages there. The Japanese were in a near panic as they tried to tax and recruit more soldiers from the Bandō . In the 789 CE Battle of Koromo River (also known as Battle of Sufuse)
780-403: A number of forts along a defensive line from east to west established painstakingly over the past generation. Even Taga Castle was not spared. Large Japanese forces were recruited, numbering in the thousands, the largest forces perhaps ten to twenty thousand strong fighting against an Emishi force that numbered at most around three thousand warriors, and at any one place around a thousand. In 776
858-463: A result, a sword with three basic external elements of Japanese swords, the cross-sectional shape of shinogi-zukuri , a gently curved single-edged blade, and the structure of nakago , was completed. Its shape may reflect the changing form of warfare in Japan. Cavalry were now the dominant fighting unit, and the older straight chokutō were unsuitable for fighting from horseback. The curved sword
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#1733084996330936-519: A scabbard covered with metal, which was used as a weapon until the Muromachi period. The meaning was a sword wrapped around a leech, and its feature was that a thin metal plate was spirally wrapped around the scabbard, so it was both sturdy and decorative, and chains were not used to hang the scabbard around the waist. The Mongol invasions of Japan in the 13th century during the Kamakura period facilitated
1014-611: A statesman of the Song dynasty in China, described Japanese swords as follows: "It is a treasured sword with a scabbard made of fragrant wood covered with fish skin, decorated with brass and copper, and capable of exorcising evil spirits. It is imported at a great cost." From the Heian period (794–1185), ordinary samurai wore swords of the style called kurourusi tachi ( kokushitsu no tachi , 黒漆太刀 ), which meant black lacquer tachi . The hilt of
1092-424: A sword with chains in the arsenal. The scabbard of the tachi was covered with a gilt copper plate and hung by chains at the waist. At the end of the Kamakura period, simplified hyogo gusari tachi came to be made as an offering to the kami of Shinto shrines and fell out of use as weapons. On the other hand, in the Kamakura period, there was a type of tachi called hirumaki tachi ( 蛭巻太刀 ) with
1170-479: A unique style of warfare in which horse archery and hit-and-run tactics proved very effective against the slower contemporary Japanese imperial army that mostly relied on heavy infantry . The livelihood of the Emishi was based on hunting and gathering as well as on the cultivation of grains such as millet and barley . Recently, it has been thought that they practiced rice cultivation in areas where rice could be easily grown. The first major attempts to subjugate
1248-409: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tachi A tachi ( 太刀 ) is a type of sabre-like traditionally made Japanese sword ( nihonto ) worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Tachi and uchigatana generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on the location of the mei ( 銘 ) , or signature, on
1326-439: Is a far more efficient weapon wielded by a warrior on horseback; the curve of the blade adds considerably to the downward force of a cutting action. According to historian Karl Friday , before the 13th century, there are no written references or drawings showing swords of any kind were used from horseback. However, According to Yoshikazu Kondo, bow and arrows were certainly the main weapons used in cavalry battles, but from around
1404-651: Is associated with this population and later gave rise to the Satsumon culture which is ancestral to the modern Ainu people of Hokkaido including some Okhotsk culture influence. Unlike the Ainu, the Emishi were horse riders and iron workers, pointing to cultural divergences between early Ainu and the Emishi. While there is evidence for some agriculture (millet and rice), the Emishi were mostly horse riders, hunters, fishers and traders. The Emishi of Northern Honshu primarily spoke an Ainu-related language. The Matagi are suggested to be
1482-538: Is divided into specific time periods: The predecessor of the Japanese sword has been called [[[warabitetō]] [ ja ] ] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) ( 蕨手刀 ). In the middle of the Heian period (794–1185), samurai improved on the warabitetō to develop [[[kenukigata-tachi]] [ ja ] ] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) ( 毛抜形太刀 ) (early Japanese sword). To be more precise, it
1560-556: Is in the Nihon Shoki in 720CE, where the word appears in the phonetic spelling 愛瀰詩 for emi 1 si (see also Old Japanese § Vowels for an explanation of the subscript). This is in the record of Emperor Jimmu , stating that his armed forces defeated a group of Emishi before Jimmu was enthroned as the Emperor of Japan . According to the Nihon Shoki , Takenouchi no Sukune in
1638-475: Is now northern Miyagi Prefecture , and established Momonofu Castle on the Kitakami River . The fort was built despite constant attacks by the Emishi of Isawa (present-day southern Iwate prefecture). On 5 September, 774 CE, the Emishi stormed Monou castle and the rebellion began. The Emishi counterattacked along a broad front, starting with Monou Castle, destroying the garrison there before going on to destroy
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#17330849963301716-404: Is now northern Miyagi Prefecture , became allies of the Japanese. This was a stunning reversal to the aspirations of the Emishi who still fought against the Japanese. The Shiwa Emishi were a very powerful group and were able to attack smaller Emishi groups successfully as their leaders were promoted into imperial rank. This had the effect of isolating one of the most powerful and independent Emishi,
1794-450: Is thought that the Emishi improved the warabitetō and developed [[[Kenukigata-warabitetō]] [ ja ] ] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) ( 毛抜形蕨手刀 ) with a hole in the hilt and [[[kenukigatatō]] [ ja ] ] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) ( 毛抜形刀 ) without decorations on the tip of the hilt, and
1872-476: Is unique as a bridge between the old double-edged Japanese ken (based on the Chinese jian ) and the traditional Japanese tachi and eventual katana . The Kogarasu Maru was designed with a curved double-edged blade approximately 62.8 cm long. One edge of the blade is shaped in normal tachi fashion but, unlike the tachi, the tip is symmetrical and both edges of the blade are sharp, except for about 20 cm of
1950-441: Is worn on the wielder's left waist. Since a tachi was worn cutting edge down, and the katana was worn cutting edge up, the mei would be in opposite locations on the tang of both types of swords. An authentic tachi had an average cutting edge length ( nagasa ) of 70–80 cm ( 27 + 9 ⁄ 16 – 31 + 1 ⁄ 2 in), and compared to a katana, was generally lighter in proportion to its length, had
2028-765: The obi was katana style, but metalworking of the scabbard was tachi style. With the rise of statism in Shōwa Japan , the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy implemented swords called shin guntō , worn tachi style (cutting-edge down). In the Shintō period from around 1596 in the Azuchi–Momoyama period , the traditional techniques of the Kotō period were lost, and no smith
2106-558: The Shintō period focused on reproducing the blade of a Japanese sword in the Kamakura period. There are more than 100 Japanese swords designated as National Treasures in Japan , of which the Kotō of the Kamakura period account for 80% and the tachi account for 70%. From the end of the Kamakura period to the end of the Muromachi period (1333–1573), kawatsutsumi tachi ( 革包太刀 ), which means
2184-463: The katana , which was easy to carry, became the mainstream. The dazzling-looking tachi gradually became a symbol of the authority of high-ranking samurai. From the 15th century, low-quality swords were mass-produced under the influence of the large-scale war. These swords, along with spears, were lent to recruited farmers called ashigaru , while swords were exported. Such mass-produced swords are called kazuuchimono , and swordsmiths of
2262-514: The Abe and Kiyowara were created by local Japanese gōzoku and became regional semi-independent states based on the Emishi and Japanese people. However, even before these emerged, the Emishi people progressively lost their distinct culture and ethnicity as they became minorities. The Northern Fujiwara were thought to have been Emishi, but there is some doubt as to their lineage, and most likely were descended from local Japanese families who resided in
2340-520: The Ainu people , not necessarily identical but a distinct ethnicity. The Emishi that inhabited Northern Honshu consisted likely of several tribes, which included pre-Ainu people, non- Yamato Japanese, and admixed people, who united and resisted the expansion of the Yamato Empire . It is suggested that the Emishi spoke an early variant of the Ainu languages or an Ainu-like language, while some may have spoken
2418-490: The Ainu people , with both descending from the Jomon people of Northern Japan. The exact relationship between the Emishi and Ainu however remains disputed; they may either share a common "pre-Ainu" ancestor or Emishi tribes are ancestral to the later Ainu via the Satsumon culture . Both Emishi and Ainu were historically referred to as 'Ezo', with this name written using the same kanji characters . The Esan culture of northern Honshu
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2496-633: The Bisen school and Mino school produced them by division of labor. The export of Japanese sword reached its height during the Muromachi period —at least 200,000 swords were shipped to Ming dynasty China in official trade in an attempt to soak up the production of Japanese weapons and make it harder for pirates in the area to arm. In the Ming dynasty of China, Japanese swords and their tactics were studied to repel pirates, and wodao and miaodao were developed based on Japanese swords. From this period,
2574-510: The Genpei War in the 12th century, the use of tachi on horseback increased. Early models had uneven curves with the deepest part of the curve at the hilt . As eras changed, the center of the curve tended to move up the blade. By the 11th century during the Heian period, tachi were exported to neighboring countries in Asia. For example, in the poem "The Song of Japanese Swords" Ouyang Xiu ,
2652-506: The Isawa confederation . The newly appointed shōgun general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro then attacked the Isawa Emishi, relentlessly using soldiers trained in horse archery. The result was a desultory campaign that eventually led to Aterui's surrender in 802. The war was mostly over and many Emishi groups submitted themselves to the imperial government. However, skirmishes still took place, and it
2730-509: The tang ( nakago ) of many old tachi were cut and shortened into katana . This modification is called suriage . For example, many of the tachi Masamune forged during the Kamakura period were converted into katana , so his only existing works are katana and tantō . From around the 16th century, many Japanese swords, including tachi , were exported to Thailand , where katana -style swords were made and prized for battle and art work, and some of them are in
2808-399: The tang ( nakago ), integrated with the blade, is directly gripped and used. The term kenukigata is derived from the fact the central part of tang is hollowed in the shape of ancient Japanese tweezers ( kenuki ). In the tachi developed after kenukigata-tachi , a structure in which the hilt is fixed to the tang ( nakago ) with a pin called mekugi was adopted. As
2886-412: The tang . The tachi style of swords preceded the development of the katana , which was not mentioned by name until near the end of the twelfth century. Tachi were the mainstream Japanese swords of the Kotō period between 900 and 1596. Even after the Muromachi period (1336–1573), when katana became the mainstream, tachi were often worn by high-ranking samurai. The production of swords in Japan
2964-660: The 5th century CE, in which they are referred to as máorén (毛人—"hairy people") in Chinese records. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of various Japanese emperors during the Asuka , Nara , and early Heian periods (7th–10th centuries CE). The origin of the Emishi is disputed. They are generally thought to have descended from tribes of the Jōmon people , particularly the Zoku-Jōmon . The majority of scholars believe that they were related to
3042-531: The Ainu and early Yamato. These were likely ethnic Japanese, who resisted the Yamato dynasty's consolidation of political power in early Japan and instead allied themselves with other local tribes. The similarity of the modern Tōhoku dialect and the ancient Izumo dialect in particular supports the notion that some of the Izumo people, who did not submit to Yamato royalty after the establishment of their governance, escaped to
3120-615: The Emishi fushu , and may have been seen as fushu themselves since they had lived in the region for several generations. Importantly, the Abe held the post of Superintendent of the indigenous. This post proves that the Emishi population was seen as different from other Japanese though it is unclear what the responsibilities of the post were. Soon after World War II , mummies of the Northern Fujiwara family in Hiraizumi (the capital city of
3198-405: The Emishi in the 8th century were largely unsuccessful. The imperial armies, which were modeled after the mainland Chinese armies, proved unsuccessful when faced with the guerrilla tactics employed by the Emishi. Following the adoption and development by the imperial forces of horseback archery and the guerilla tactics used by the Emishi, the army soon saw success, leading to the eventual defeat of
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3276-725: The Emishi to the semi-nomadic Malgal/Mohe people . There was also a distinction between contemporary Honshu Emishi and Watarishima Emishi of Hokkaido. Historical evidence suggests frequent fights between Honshu Emishi and Watarishima Emishi. It is argued that the Watarishima Emishi consisted of Honshu Emishi and proto-Ainu-speakers. Kudo Masaki and Kitakamae Yasuo concluded that the Emishi were of predominantly Tungusic origin with some assimilated Japonic groups (Izumo people). They further argue that linguistic place names (toponyms) previously suggested to be Ainu, can be explained by Amur Tungusic substratum onto proto-Ainu. Kudo also suggests that
3354-492: The Emishi. The success of the gradual change in battle tactics came at the very end of the 8th century in the 790s under the command of the general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro . The adoption of horseback archery and horseback combat later led to the development of the samurai . Following their defeat, the Emishi either submitted themselves to imperial authorities as fushu or ifu , or migrated further north, some to Hokkaidō . By
3432-537: The Japanese Imperial army until the 16th century, and that later settlement was from a local Japanese warlord who was independent of any central control. In 709, the fort of Ideha was created close to present day Akita . This was a bold move since the intervening territory between Akita and the northwestern countries of Japan was not under government control. The Emishi of Akita, in alliance with Michinoku, attacked Japanese settlements in response. Saeki no Iwayu
3510-466: The Japanese army under Ki no Kosami Seito shōgun was defeated by the Isawa Emishi under their general Aterui . A four thousand-strong army was attacked as they tried to cross the Kitakami River by a force of a thousand Emishi. The imperial army suffered its most stunning defeat, losing a thousand men, many of whom drowned. In 794, many key Shiwa Emishi, including Isawa no kimi Anushiko of what
3588-433: The Kogarasu Maru is not signed but the blade is believed to have been made in either the early Heian period or late Nara period , by the swordsmith Amakuni , who is said to have created the first curved Japanese sword and is believed to have lived during this period. Two other Kogarasu Zukuri blades exist from this era, but many other blades of this type have been created throughout Japanese history. Murata Tsuneyoshi ,
3666-457: The Masamune Prize without extraordinary achievements, and in the field of tachi and katana , no one won until Kawauchi for 18 years. With a few exceptions, katana and tachi can be distinguished from each other, if signed, by the location of the signature ( mei ) on the tang . In general, the signature should be carved into the side of the tang facing outward as the sword
3744-623: The Matagi hunters are in fact descendants of the Emishi, with the specific hunting vocabulary to be of Tungusic rather than Ainu origin. Kikuchi Toshihiko argues that there was much contact between the aboriginal peoples in northern Honshu and Hokkaido who formed the Satsumon and Okhotsk cultures and Tungusic and Paleoasiatic groups in the Russian Far East, especially along the Amur River Basin and on
3822-560: The Northern Fujiwara), who were thought to have been related to the Ainu, were studied by scientists. However, the researchers concluded that the rulers of Hiraizumi were not related to the ethnic Ainu but more similar to contemporary Japanese of Honshū. This was seen as evidence that the Emishi were not related to the Ainu. This had the effect of popularizing the idea that the Emishi were like other contemporary ethnic Japanese who lived in northeastern Japan, outside of Yamato rule. However,
3900-463: The Sendai plain and into the interior mountains in what is now Yamagata Prefecture . Guerilla warfare was practiced by the horseriding Emishi who kept up pressure on these forts, but Emishi allies, ifu and fushu , were also recruited and promoted by the Japanese to fight against their kinsmen. In 758, after a long period of stalemate, the Japanese army under Fujiwara no Asakari penetrated into what
3978-514: The Tōhoku (unrelated to the Fujiwara of Kyoto). Both the Abe and Kiyowara families were almost certainly of Japanese descent, both of whom represented gōzoku , powerful families who had moved into the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa perhaps during the 9th century, though when they emigrated is not known for certain. They were likely Japanese frontier families who developed regional ties with the descendants of
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#17330849963304056-570: The Tōhoku region and became part of the Emishi. Additionally, the evidence of rice cultivation by some of the Emishi supports the theory of a possible Japonic component of their ancestry. Several historians noted striking similarities between the horseriding nomads of the Amur region, specifically Tungusic peoples , and the Emishi. It is suggested that the Emishi originated from a Tungusic source population, which later assimilated Japonic-speaking Izumo migrants. Oishi Naomasa, Emori Susumu, and others link
4134-524: The blade and the sword mounting of Japanese swords are displayed separately in museums, and this tendency is remarkable in Japan. For example, the Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum "Nagoya Touken World", one of Japan's largest sword museums, posts separate videos of the blade and the sword mounting on its official website and YouTube. Emishi The first mention of the Emishi in literature that can be corroborated with outside sources dates to
4212-446: The borders of the emerging empire of Japan, which saw itself as a civilizing influence; thus, the empire was able to justify its conquest. This kanji spelling was first seen in the T'ang sources that describe the meeting with the two Emishi that the Japanese envoy brought with him to China. The kanji spelling may have been adopted from China. The oldest attested pronunciation emi 1 si may have come from Old Japanese , perhaps from
4290-709: The central government. The Emishi are described in the Nihon Shoki , which presents a view of the Emishi stemming more from a need to justify the Yamato policy of conquest than from accuracy to the Emishi people: Amongst these Eastern savages the Yemishi are the most powerful; their men and women live together promiscuously; there is no distinction of father and child. In winter, they dwell in holes; in summer, they live in nests. Their clothing consists of furs, and they drink blood. Brothers are suspicious of one another. In ascending mountains, they are like flying birds; in going through
4368-503: The collections of the Thai royal family. In the Sengoku period (1467–1615) or the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600), the itomaki tachi ( itomaki no tachi , {{lang|ja|糸巻太刀), which means a tachi wound with thread, appeared and became the mainstream of tachi after that. Itomaki tachi was decorated with lacquer decorations with many maki-e and flashy colored threads, and
4446-458: The curve of the blade gentle, lengthened the tip linearly, widened the width from the cutting edge to the opposite side of the blade, and thinned the cross section to improve the penetration and cutting ability of the blade. Historically in Japan, the ideal blade of a Japanese sword is considered to be the kotō in the Kamakura period, and the swordsmiths from the Edo period to the present day after
4524-452: The date and the existence of Yūryaku are uncertain, and the Korean reference may be anachronistic. However, the compilers clearly felt that the reference to Emishi troops was credible in this context. In 658, Abe no Hirafu 's naval expedition of 180 ships reached Aguta (present day Akita Prefecture ) and Watarishima (Hokkaidō). An alliance with Aguta Emishi, Tsugaru Emishi and Watarishima Emishi
4602-419: The descendants of these Ainu-speakers, which also contributed several toponyms and loanwords, related to geography and certain forest and water animals which they hunted, to the local Japonic-speaking people. There is some evidence that some of the Emishi spoke a divergent Japonic language , most likely the ancient "Zūzū dialect" (ja) (the ancestor of Tōhoku dialect ) and are a different ethnic group from
4680-428: The era of Emperor Keikō proposed the subjugation the Emishi of Hitakami no Kuni ( 日高見国 ) in eastern Japan. In later records, the kanji spelling changed to 蝦夷 , composed of the characters for "shrimp" and "barbarian". The use of the "shrimp" spelling is thought to refer to facial hair, like the long whiskers of a shrimp, but this is not certain. The "barbarian" portion clearly described an outsider, living beyond
4758-432: The grass, they are like fleet quadrupeds. When they receive a favour, they forget it, but if an injury is done them they never fail to revenge it. Therefore, they keep arrows in their top-knots and carry swords within their clothing. Sometimes, they draw together their fellows and make inroads on the frontier. At other times, they take the opportunity of the harvest to plunder the people. If attacked, they conceal themselves in
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#17330849963304836-463: The herbage; if pursued, they flee into the mountains. Therefore, ever since antiquity, they have not been steeped in the kingly civilizing influences. The Nihon Shoki 's entry for Emperor Yūryaku , also known as Ohatsuse no Wakatakeru, records an uprising, after the Emperor's death, of Emishi troops who had been levied to support an expedition to Korea . Emperor Yūryaku is suspected to be King Bu, but
4914-486: The late 15th century in the Muromachi period expanded into a large-scale domestic war, in which employed farmers called ashigaru were mobilized in large numbers. They fought on foot using katana shorter than tachi . In the Sengoku period (period of warring states) in the late Muromachi period, the war became bigger; ashigaru fought in a close formation using yari (spears) lent to them. Furthermore, in
4992-406: The late 16th century, Tanegashima (matchlock arquebuses) were introduced from Portugal, and Japanese swordsmiths mass-produced improved products, with ashigaru fighting with leased guns. On the battlefield in Japan, guns and spears became main weapons in addition to bows. Due to the changes in fighting styles in these wars, the tachi and naginata became obsolete among samurai, and
5070-472: The mid-9th century, most of the land held by the Emishi in Honshū had been conquered, and the Emishi became part of wider Japanese society. However, they continued to be influential in local politics, as subjugated, though powerful, Emishi families created semi-autonomous feudal domains in the north. In the two centuries following the conquest, a few of these domains became regional states that came into conflict with
5148-461: The reason the study of the Northern Fujiwara was done was the assumption that they were Emishi, which they were not. They were descendants of the northern Fujiwara branch from Tsunekiyo and the Abe clan. They took liberties with giving themselves Emishi titles because they had become rulers of the previous Emishi held lands of the Tohoku. It is generally accepted that the Emishi were ethnically related to
5226-676: The record of June 1, 1430, in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty , a Korean swordsmith who went to Japan and mastered the method of making Japanese swords presented a Japanese sword to the King of Korea and was rewarded for the excellent work which was no different from the swords made by the Japanese. Traditionally, yumi (bows) were the main weapon of war in Japan, and tachi and naginata were for close combat. The Ōnin War in
5304-408: The samurai developed kenukigata-tachi based on these swords. Kenukigata-tachi , which was developed in the first half of the 10th century, has a three-dimensional cross-sectional shape of an elongated pentagonal or hexagonal blade called shinogi-zukuri and a gently curved single-edged blade, typical features of Japanese swords. There is no wooden hilt attached to kenukigata-tachi , and
5382-573: The style called hosodachi ( 細太刀 ) , which meant thin tachi . The kazatachi and hosodachi worn by nobles were initially straight like a chokutō , but since the Kamakura period they have had a gentle curve under the influence of tachi . Since tachi worn by court nobles were for ceremonial use, they generally had an iron plate instead of a blade. In the Kamakura period (1185–1333), high-ranking samurai wore hyogo gusari tachi ( hyogo kusari no tachi , 兵庫鎖太刀 ), which meant
5460-423: The swords. For a sword to be worn in tachi style, it needed to be mounted in a tachi koshirae . The tachi koshirae has two hangers (ashi) so the sword can be worn in a horizontal position with the cutting edge down. A sword not mounted in a tachi koshirae could be worn tachi style by use of a koshiate , a leather device allowing any sword to be worn in the tachi style. Generally,
5538-492: The trailing or concave edge nearest the hilt, which is rounded. A single koshi-hi (腰樋) style groove runs from the tang to the transition point where the blade becomes double-edged, and is invariably accompanied by a soe-hi (添樋). The hardening process yielded a straight temper line ( sugaha hamon , 直刃刃文) on both sides of the blade. The Kogarasu Maru is currently in the Japanese Imperial Collection. The tang of
5616-464: The word "yumishi" meaning " bowyer " (in reference to an important weapon, the bow), however some suggest that it came instead from the Ainu term emushi meaning "sword". The yumishi theory is problematic, as the Old Japanese term for "bowyer" was 弓削 ( yuge ), whereas 弓師 ( yumishi ) is not attested until the 1600s. Meanwhile, the later pronunciation Ebisu (derived from Emishi )
5694-471: Was able to reproduce the tachi of the Kamakura period. However, in 2014, Kunihira Kawachi succeeded in reproducing a tachi from the Kamakura period. He received the Masamune Prize, the highest honor as a swordsmith. On the tachi he forged, midare-utsuri (a pattern of hazy white shadows between hamon and shinogi ), characteristic of the Bizen school in the Kamakura period. Nobody could win
5772-457: Was also spelled as 戎 , which also means "warrior", possibly aligning with the proposed Ainu derivation via metonymy wherein the word for "sword" was used to mean "warrior". The Emishi were represented by different tribes, some of whom became allies of the Japanese (referred to as "fushu" and "ifu" ) while others remained hostile (referred to as "iteki" ). The Emishi in northeastern Honshū relied on horses in warfare, developing
5850-474: Was appointed Sei Echigo Emishi shōgun . He used 100 ships from the Japan sea side countries along with soldiers recruited from the eastern countries and defeated the Echigo (present day Akita) Emishi. In 724, Taga Fort was built by Ōno no Omi Azumahito near present-day Sendai and became the largest administrative fort in the northeast region of Michinoku. As Chinju shōgun , he steadily built forts across
5928-556: Was formed by Abe who then stormed and defeated a settlement of the Mishihase (Su-shen in the Aston translation of the Nihongi ), a people of unknown origin. This is one of the earliest reliable records of the Emishi people extant. The Mishihase may have been another ethnic group who competed with the ancestors of the Ainu for Hokkaidō. The expedition happens to be the furthest northern penetration of
6006-478: Was not until 811 that the so-called Thirty-Eight Years' War was over. North of the Kitakami River, the Emishi were still independent, but the large scale threat that they posed ceased with the defeat of the Isawa Emishi in 802. After their conquest, some Emishi leaders became part of the regional framework of government in the Tōhoku culminating with the Northern Fujiwara regime. This regime and others such as
6084-469: Was used as a gift, a ceremony, or an offering to the kami of Shinto shrines. In later Japanese feudal history, during the Sengoku and Edo periods , certain high-ranking warriors of the ruling class wore their sword tachi -style (edge-downward), rather than with the scabbard thrust through the belt with the edge upward. This style of swords is called handachi , "half tachi ". In handachi , styles were often mixed, for example, fastening to
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